A Dance of Identity - documentary about trans life

Aim

Help us pay for post production and get the film released here: https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dance-of-identity---getting-the-film-out

A documentary about what it feels like to be trans today 

"stunningly powerful"         "Compelling"      "Better than Will and Harper"

(comments of viewers after a test screening of our rough cut ) 

Sophie, an amateur ballet dancer from Yorkshire, is one of thousands of trans people in Britain seeking to live in their true gender. Since childhood she's longed to dance ballet and in 2018 after several years of rigorous training and support from girlfriend Sandi, she began to get a chance to perform publicly, relishing being an ambassador for the trans community. 

This was the point at which I started filming A Dance of Identity, a documentary which will tell the extraordinary story of the dancer/businesswoman and her family as she battles to complete her transition while her rights to live in her new gender are increasingly called into question. 

We have now edited the film.  Please help us complete the post production via our  new crowdfunder: 

https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/dance-of-identity---getting-the-film-out

The film is a story of love and hope as Sophie and Sandi celebrate their achievements, overcome bureaucratic hurdles to get the fairytale wedding they always wanted and are successful in conceiving a child. It’s a story of resilience as they learn to deal with an outpouring of social media hatred that began during the pandemic. We share Sophie’s triumph as she gets the surgery that she’s waited years for and her alarm at a rise in transphobic hate crimes. 

Why this film is urgent 

Today it’s clear that the legal rights won by Britain's LGBT and trans community in the early 2000s are in serious peril. A well funded campaign in the media and the courts to undermine those rights has culminated in a controversial Supreme Court ruling which challenges Sophie’s right to live her life legally as a woman.  This is all happening within a darkening global context as Trump orders the end of trans healthcare and trans rights in the USA. 

Much of the  established media coverage over recent years has been  aimed at publicising the claim of gender critical groups that trans women pose a threat to other women, at denouncing the authenticity of young trans and non binary people and at undermining the work of prominent trans allies and healthcare providers. 

A Dance of Identity puts a trans woman and her wife at the centre of the story, asking viewers to enter their world and experience what is happening around us from their point of view.  Its perspective is that of a human life, shedding light on the uncertainties of gender,  on sexuality, on love, on self expression, on solidarity and on the determination  and effort it takes to fight for the freedom to live as one chooses without censure and discrimination. 

Making trans life visible 

It may not be evident to everyone why it's important to defend the rights of trans people. Apart from a few celebrity drag queens, TV comediennes and a few top models, Britain’s trans population (thought to be around 0.5% of people) live largely below the radar, prefering to keep their identity private .   Being able to “pass” in their new gender has enabled trans people to go about their daily lives avoiding discrimination, mockery and attack.  

The 2025 Supreme Court judgment and its endorsement by Prime Minister Starmer threatens to become the single biggest rollback of civil rights the UK has ever seen, according to journalist and founder of respected newsletter Queer AF Jamie Wareham. The LGBTQA+ community sees the move as a dangerous precedent for removing the wider hard won LGBT rights of the last 40 years.

A documentary which humanises the life of a trans family is urgently needed. Through the experiences of Sophie and her family, A Dance of Identity will tell the story of those 7 years and the build up to today’s polarising battles. 

A Dance of Identity will offer a unique and intimate look into what it feels like to be transgender in the UK.  It will reveal why Britain has dropped in rankings in the last 10 years from top place in Europe for LGBTQ+ rights to 22nd place, why many trans families are seeking to emigrate and why the trans community and its allies are mobilising.   

Why we have launched a crowdfunder

We have been able to fund the filming through my production company.  But I now need your help to complete this film so it can be released as an independent documentary as soon as possible.   

In August and September 2025 we were able to raise over £25,000 from a large group of wonderful backers in order to work with professional editor to craft the 7 years of footage into a cinema length “rough cut”.  With a rough cut under our belts we will seek funding to complete the film ready for release.   So we are continuing this  crowdfunder because we will need to pay for archive and music rights, post production -grade and sound mix- as well as  legal costs.  

Please join our campaign, give as much as you can afford and share this crowdfunder widely to help us get this film finished.

Who's in the film?

How Sophie's life was impacted by recent trans history

I first approached Sophie after reading about her in a dance magazine. We worked with trans youth organisation Gendered Intelligence to set up a workshop for young trans dancers but broadcasters showed little interest. Sophie was confident and outgoing so I decided to follow Sophie's story anyway.    

As I followed Sophie and Sandi's life, trans people came increasingly under attack in negative press coverage, some claiming trans people  were aggressive and others that trans women were potential male predators. This was the backdrop to a row in Scotland over reform of the gender recognition process in which trans women were demonised as a threat to women's safety.  Sophie herself was mortified by these slurs and began to withdraw from using public spaces.

It didn’t stop there. gender clinic waiting times for trans people soared, especially at the country's only clinic for trans youth. Criticism of the youth service mounted, stoked by ill-informed debate and alarmist headlines. By 2023 the clinic was closed under the pretext of reform. Having spent years hiding her own gender dysphoria, Sophie followed these events closely, concerned at the rising number of suicides among young trans people who'd spent years on the waiting list.

By then Sophie and Sandi had married and were going through the agonies of IVF, determined to start a family. I continued filming,  With a rise hate crimes against trans people, the film will show a couple constantly on their guard.  They looked forward excitedly to the birth of their child and Sophie's gender reassignment surgery, events which took an unexpected turn, bringing tears and joy. 

The dramatic events of 2025 have put their lives once again into the balance. Trump swept into office endorsing a crackdown on transgender rights internationally while in the UK a well funded campaign against trans existence has effectively challenged Sophie's right to live her life publicly as a woman.

The dire state of public funding for independent documentaries

The dire state of independent feature documentary funding was recently laid out by the Documentary Film Council in this report. Without public funds so far, we are appealing to all those who support trans and LGBT rights to help us raise the money we need so that we can get to the next stage.  

Our plan is to share this unique film in cinemas, at festivals and eventually online and to enable communities and groups to organise their own screening events in the UK and internationally. 

Sophie’s story starts at a time when trans rights seem to be legally secure and ends when trans people fear being sent back into the closet.  It captures the experience of thousands of trans people in Britain and millions of others around the world.

 Please help us to amplify the voices of the trans community who now, more than ever, need to be heard.

Who we are

Alison Rooper (she/her)

I have made documentaries all my life. I researched historical documentaries at Granada TV including the award-winning End of Empire: Palestine and Apartheid. I directed films for Channel 4 and BBC Current Affairs before series producing several BBC documentary series. One film was a profile of the renowned trans writer Jan Morris.

After setting up In Focus Productions, I executive produced the award winning Storyville:War Feels Like War, and BBC 2's Massacre in Luxor and The Headmaster and the Headscarves along with short and long form films for organisations, charities and broadcasters in Britain and abroad.  Amongst my director credits are the Emmy-nominated Doping for Gold (PBS/Five) which told the story of the German trans athlete Andreas Krieger and other athletes doped by the East German state. A Dance of Identity is my first feature documentary.

Sandra Leeming (they/them)

Sandra develops and produces feature documentaries through their Glasgow-based company Sandslate Films. Recent productions include Silent Men (dir Duncan Cowles) which premiered at Sheffield Doc Fest 2024 and was awarded Special Mention by the Jury, and Doppelgangersx3 (dir Nelly Ben Hayoun Stepanian) which premiered SXSW March 2024. They have a number of projects in development.

Sandra has twenty years of industry experience including 10 years at Dartmouth Films (London) as Head of Production and Line Producer .Before that they managed hundreds of hours of factual content programmes at Fulcrum TV for all the main UK and International broadcasters.  Sandslate Films is a LGBTQ+ business. Sandra is member of the Board of Trustees of the Scottish Queer International Film Festival.

Hattie Beanland (she/her) 

Hatti is a Director of Photography living and working in the US & UK. She shot feature film LISTEN an award-winning film by Ana Rocha de Sousa which was selected as the Portuguese entry for the 93rd Academy Awards. Prior to this she shot ASHLAND, a feature film shot on location in Montana.  Her documentary credits include Big Star: The Nick Skelton Story, Brother From Another, a true crime docu-series directed by Lysa Heslov and Deadliest Catch, the Natgeo docuseries.  In commercials she works for production companies MJZ, Riffraff Films, Anonymous Content and They Gather.  She is currently shooting  a film about cancel culture for Lysa Heslov.

Hatti studied Fine Art at Glasgow School of Art and has a masters in cinematography from the American Film Institute Conservatory. She was selected as a BAFTA Newcomer and is also one of the founding members of the International Collective of Female Cinematographers which provides community, support and industry advocacy for professional female cinematographers.

Bonnie Rae Brickman (she/her) 

Bonnie is a New York-born, London-based Film + TV Editor working across both documentary and narrative fiction. Her work has screened on major broadcasters and at international festivals including Clermont-Ferrand, HotDocs, Frameline, Outfest, and BFI Flare. She is a four-time New York Area Emmy Award Certificate recipient and was Highly Commended for Best Editor at Underwire Festival for BOOTWMN. Alongside her editing work, she has taught editing and post-production at SUNY/Oswego, University of West London, and on the Ethnographic & Documentary Film MA programme at UCL. She is passionate about stories that centre queer lives and underrepresented voices.

Sukey Venables Fisher (she/her) 

Sukey is a BAFTA and RTS-winning writer, producer and activist, working across features and TV in the UK and internationally. Her most visible role as a trans rights community leader is as one of the core organisers of London Trans+ Pride, now officially the world's biggest.

Christopher Hird (he/him)

Christopher is a leading figure in UK independent documentary making. With Dartmouth Films he has pioneered new ways of funding, producing and distributing documentaries in the UK, as well as promoting the work of new and emerging filmmakers.

Others

Other cinematographers and assistant producers who have worked on the film are:  Martha Bailey, Leanne Hayman, Thalia Kent-Egan, Kate Harvest, Esteban Uyarra, James Dawson, Ben G Brown, Abi Timmins, Joe Simmons and Jenni Suitiala.

Funding method

Keep what you raise – this project will receive all pledges made